Monday, June 17, 2013

Superman's History

With the premiere of “Man
of Steel,” the latest iteration of the Superman legend, it is an appropriate
time to analyze the history of the character on his 75th
anniversary. Joe Schuster and Jerry Siegel, two Jewish-American teenagers
from Cleveland, created Superman during the Great Depression, with DC Comics
publishing Action Comics 1, the first comic book to feature Superman, in 1938.
Many have interpreted Kal-El’s (Superman’s given name) flight from war-torn
Krypton as a metaphor for the American immigrant experience in general, or perhaps
for Jews trying to escape Europe during the 1930s. Clark Kent’s sense of
otherness as an “alien” in Middle-American Kansas can also be seen as an
expression of the challenge of assimilation for the immigrants who arrived
through Ellis Island between 1882-1924 and their children. During the
depression, Superman reflected the politics of the time, acting as a proto-New
Dealer, taking on corrupt landlords and businessman.

During the 1950s,
Superman again reflected the ethos of his era, emerging as a champion of
“truth, justice, and the American way,” during the Cold War with the Soviet
Union. This phrase, now closely linked to the character, first became
central during this time (though it had been used briefly during World War
II.) The first Superman television show, the Adventures of Superman,
premiered during this decade, starring George Reeves, from 1952-1958.

In the 1970s and early
1980s, Superman re-emerged with the Christopher Reeve films, which became the
most famous and influential depiction of the superhero. The success of
the films can partly be attributable to the fact that director Richard Donner
portrayed Superman as an incorruptible hero in the aftermath of the cynicism
wrought by Vietnam and Watergate. The film also served as a template for
most of the comic book movies since then, clearly influencing Tim Burton’s and
Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, as well as Sam Raimi’s Spider Man
series.

The TV show “Smallville,”
which premiered in 2001, can be seen as a 10-year prequel to the Christopher
Reeve films and became the primary representation of the Superman myth for
Generation Y. Exploring Clark Kent’s coming-of-age in Kansas, which is
only partially examined in the Donner film, “Smallville” shows the young
Superman discovering his origins and learning to use his powers.

After the failure of
“Superman Returns” to revive the movie franchise in 2006, it appeared that the
character might disappear from the big screen. With the strong opening box office
for “Man of Steel,” however it seems likely that the character will continue to
endure in films and other aspects of popular culture for the foreseeable future.

Sources: Bradford Wright,
Comic Book Nation, (Baltimore, 2001)Erik Lunegrad,
"Truth, Justice and (Fill in the Blank), New York Times, June 30, 2006